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Board Member Profiles
Discover more about our board members
Jim was appointed to the Board in March 2021 and was elected as Chair in September 2021. Jim is a Member of Riverside’s Customer Experience Committee
Jim has more than 40 years' experience in the housing sector. He began his career working for local authorities across the west of Scotland before serving as Group Chief Executive of Parkhead Housing Association for 13 years.
Jim is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and served as Chairman of the Scotland Branch, Vice-President and then President of the CIH.
Cris was elected to the Board in November 2024 and is the Riverside Group representative on the Riverside Scotland Board.
Cris joined Riverside as Chief Financial Officer in March 2018, bringing with her more than 20 years’ experience in senior finance roles at various organisations. Cris is a KPMG trained Chartered Accountant who has spent her career to date working in social housing, with a couple of minor detours – one to work with asylum seekers and another to help expand public transport in Greater Manchester.
At Riverside, she has responsibility for all financial and treasury matters, all non-London development and joint ventures. Originally from South Wales, Cris is passionate about equality, diversity and making a positive difference where she can.
Gerard was formally elected to the Board in August 2016. Gerry holds a Master of Arts in English & Philosophy and a Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Administration and also in Housing Studies. Gerry is also an EFQM trained assessor.
Gerry has worked both in the private sector and also with the local authority where he worked for over 30 years within housing management. His responsibilities included asset services, community safety, waste management and grounds maintenance.
Prior to retirement Gerry held the post of Head of Housing and Communities in East Ayrshire and steered his service through the Council’s transformation strategy whilst leading on new housing developments and implementing a property factoring service.
Gerry was appointed as an Ordinary Member to the Housing and Property Chamber First Tier Tribunal in 2017.
Gerry was appointed to our Audit & Risk Committee in September 2020.
Margaret was elected to the Board in August 2016 and was appointed to the Audit & Risk Committee in March 2023.
Margaret is the former Scottish Government Minister for Housing and Welfare and was MSP for Cunninghame South 2011-2016. She was previously Manager of East Ayrshire Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB).
Margaret brings a wealth of knowledge of the housing system in Scotland both from setting policy and direction as the Minister responsible, but also from the perspective of tenants from her many years working with the CAB service.
Since retiring, Margaret is still involved in the local community. She is a member of the board of North Ayrshire Women’s Aid and chair of the board of the Volunteers Shop in Woodland View community hospital, where she also volunteers every week.
Jane was formally elected to the Board in August 2017. Jane has extensive experience in business development, currently self-employed with Market Route Mapping, specialising in product development. She is involved in high-level strategy development and is responsible for maintaining strong relationships with a diverse range of customers, stakeholders and partners.
Jane has qualifications in Project Management from IBM, Supervisory Management from West College Scotland and Investors in People accreditation.
Jane has a background in retail and has 23 years experience of sales and marketing in the retail sector, working previously as a Retail Design Consultant for the John Lewis Partnership and a Store Manager for Ness Clothing Scotland. Jane also has logistics and distribution experience working with FMCG companies.
Jane is also a Business Mentor with Young Enterprise Scotland, Women’s Enterprise Scotland and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce on a voluntary basis.
Sohini was elected to the Board in September 2021. Sohini is a leadership and team coach and culture change facilitator, supporting leaders and teams to perform at their best and thrive. Her previous corporate career evolved from IT change to strategic change projects to wider organisational strategy.
Sohini has over 15 years of professional experience in financial services, retail, and public service. She holds degrees in BSc. in Applied Mathematics & Computer Science, BSc. (Hons) in Technology and Innovation Management, and MSc. in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. She also serves on the board of SEIN (Glasgow-based charity that supports refugees and asylum seekers).
Sohini is a volunteer youth coach with GRIT and The Bridging Project, and does pro-bono consulting for charities through The Cranfield Trust.
Paul was appointed to the Board in May 2024.
Paul holds an MA and BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University. He is also currently undertaking postgraduate research towards a Doctorate in Business Administration at the University of Strathclyde.
Paul has over 25 years’ experience advising companies, governmental bodies and third sector organisations on finance, strategy, risk and corporate development matters. Paul is a partner and Head of Corporate Finance at CT: Accountants & Advisors and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Paul has over 10 years’ experience in a variety of non-executive roles, across corporate, private equity and regulated company boards.
Joanne was elected to the Board in September 2024.
Joanne has been a customer with the Association for a year now and lives with her husband who has been a customer for 25 years. She enjoys being involved in the local community and is currently a Civil Servant.
She was formerly an Engineer for over 15 years and has had a varied career which includes the Civil Service and working on Learning and Developing projects in the workplace.
John was elected to the Board in September 2024.
John has over 30 years’ experience of Accounting and Finance and is a long-standing member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
John is currently the Finance Director of Logitech Limited, a world leading producer of surface finishing technologies.
Brett was elected to the Board in September 2024.
Brett has worked in the housing sector for more than 24 years in a variety of senior leadership roles in housing associations and local government.
Brett and his family relocated to West Scotland to join West Highland Housing Association as Chief Executive in 2022. Prior to joining West Highland HA, Brett was the Operations Director for North Wales Housing.
Brett is an advocate of digital solutions and innovations, helping to ensure that customers receive the highest levels of service available. Brett is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), holds an MBA through the Open University, has an Honours Degree in Housing and is a qualified coach and mentor. Brett is also an Independent Member of the CIH Audit & Risk Committee.
Sophia was elected to the Board in September 2024.
Sophia is a housing advisor with Glasgow’s Helping Heroes (GHH) based in Govan, Glasgow. Her role is to provide expert, impartial advice and assistance for serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families on housing and homelessness issues.
Sophia is a Certified Practitioner with the Chartered Institute of Housing and has completed the Level 3 Certificate in Providing Homelessness Services.
Sophia represents GHH as a Change Lead as part of the All in for Change (AIFC) programme. This group takes part in conversations that will influence policy and strategy at national and local levels, to help end homelessness in Scotland.